Copy article

Dire December for UK retailers

ended 19. January 2024

New dire data out from the Office for National Statistics shows that retail sales volumes are estimated to have fallen by 3.2% in December 2023, from a rise of 1.4% in November 2023 (revised up from an increase of 1.3%); December's decrease was the largest monthly fall since January 2021, when coronavirus (COVID-19) restrictions affected sales. Full report >> here <<. Other key points below. How was December for you as a retailer? And how has January been to date? Please share your experiences as this story will get picked up widely by the media.

  • Looking at the quarterly picture, sales volumes fell by 0.9% in the three months to December 2023 when compared with the previous three months.
  • Non-food store sales volumes fell by 3.9% in December 2023, following a 2.7% increase in November 2023 when earlier Black Friday sales, and wider discounting, increased sales.
  • Food store sales volumes fell by 3.1% in December 2023, from an increase of 1.1% in November 2023.
  • Non-store retailing (predominantly online retailers) sales volumes fell by 2.1% in December 2023, following a fall of 1.1% in November 2023.

2 responses from the Newspage community

Copy all

Copy

Editor
Samuel Mather-Holgate
Independent Financial Adviser at Mather and Murray Financial
Christmas is the Jewell in the crown of retailing and these figures are an abdication from the sector. Declines in every section of the figures; food, non-food and online, draws an obvious conclusion that the economy is weaker than thought. There will be many casualties of this weak data, some who are still holding on, trying to offload excess stock. However, if things don’t improve by Spring there will be many vacant premises on the High Street.
Copy

Kate Nightingale
Chief Behavioural Officer and Founder at Humanising Brands
I have actually commented on the similar BRC data in this post https://www.linkedin.com/posts/kate-nightingale-kasia-slowikowska-1895981b_weak-sales-growth-to-end-2023-activity-7151490489848889344-2Agn?utm_source=share&utm_medium=member_android

These stats are a sign of bigger changes to brands business models and huge shifts in consumer behaviour that are not going anywhere. These are not results of temporary economic fluctuations, but rather macro and micro behavioural and cultural reshaping.

Please read the post and feel free to contact me at kate@humanising-brands.com. I am sure you won't have another Retail Psychologist to comment on this article.